The
sound cleaved through the night so loudly it woke a suburban couple from
their sleep. Startled, both sat up, turned to each other in
the darkness and waited but only a silvery, moonlit silence ensued. Relieved they lay back down and snuggled close together to descend
into sleep again.
Another howl split the night.
"What the hell?" the husband swore.
They lay waiting, hoping no more would come but a few minutes later it came again.
"Shit," he exclaimed, "that’s horrendous."
He threw off the covers, got up, went to the front door and opened it. He waited for a few moments and then
went out onto the porch. Other lights came on in
surrounding houses. His wife, Annie came and stood beside him.
"Luke I hope we're not going
to have to rescue it, whatever it is," she said, feeling cowardly.
"Let's just try and figure
out where it's coming from," he said, peering into the darkness.
The howl sounded again and made them jump.
A man's voice came from the house next
door.
"Ever hear anything like it?"
"Where the hell's it coming
from?" asked someone from across the street.
"Go inside honey," Luke
said to his wife, feeling a surge of masculine protection the city rarely
afforded him. She was happy to do as he asked as the men of the
neighbourhood gathered in the centre of the road as if by pre-arranged signal,
and then they waited.
It sounded again and each of them
shuddered.
"Can anyone tell where it's
coming from?" Luke asked.
No
one answered. Again they waited, determined that between them they
could make out a direction.
"They're about three minutes
apart," said Luke's next door neighbour, Allan.
Soon it came again. They
shivered as one and shook their heads in the glow of the street lamps.
"Damned if I can figure the direction," said one and they all
muttered agreement.
Luke said, "We could do something about it if we knew where it was coming
from."
The sound came again loud enough to make everyone gathered on the street feel as if the darkness might shatter into pieces.
"Jesus, let's ring the police or the council," said Allan.
"How about the RSPCA?" said the guy from across the road.
"How about the army?" This suggestion made them all relax a bit
and some even chuckled.
After discussing possible options they agreed to return to their homes and
take a multi-pronged attack. One would phone triple zero', another the
council and another the RSPCA.
It fell to Luke to call the police on triple zero.
When he was put through and explained that there was an incredibly loud howl
that was upsetting everyone in his neighbourhood the Officer on the desk didn't
immediately reply.
"You there?" Luke asked.
The Officer responded. "Where did you say you lived, which suburb?"
Luke told him and again silence followed only interrupted by the persistent
howl.
"That's odd," remarked the Officer. "How loud did you
say?"
"Very," Luke replied testily.
"You're at least eight kilometres from the station. We can hear it
here too."
"I'm not surprised," said Luke, "it would carry a long
way."
"No, I mean it's loud here, very loud."
"Oh, right, very funny. Look, I'm not yanking your chain."
"No, no sir. I know
you're not. We're hearing it here too and we can't tell what direction
it's coming from."
"It can't be an animal
then," said Luke.
"Sir, would you do me a
favour," asked the Officer.
"Sure."
"Can you take your phone
outside?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, step outside and
tell me if you hear any other dogs howling, apart from the one that's so
loud."
"Hang on. There it goes
again. I'm outside." He listened as the howl subsided.
"That is odd," he
remarked to the Officer. "There's no other barking or
howling."
More silence followed on the other
end of the line then, "Yes, same here. Listen, thanks, we'll look
into it. Try and get some sleep."
"Thanks, but if it goes on, I
doubt it." He disconnected.
By this time the Officer had every
other line on hold and called for reinforcements.
"Yes, yes, we know about
it. You're where?"
The calls were coming from all
over the city and the suburbs, to every police station and also to the
authorities in every country town.
Everywhere, due to lack of sleep,
computers were booted and people went onto the Internet. Messages began
to flood inboxes, Facebook and Twitter.
Very soon, thanks to instant
global communication, it became clear that the howl was not local, regional or
even national. It was global and had started everywhere at the same time.
It was ten a.m. in London when
workers inside office buildings, outside and in the subway were startled to
hear a very loud howl. People inside buildings with double glazed windows
heard it as if through thin glass.
Workers gradually left their
positions and desks and travelers their modes of transport to go outside and
listen. Office workers peered from balconies as the howls
continued. At first many thought it was some kind of promotion but it
went on so long authorities began receiving calls of complaint. Callers
were assured there was no promotion.
The howl itself was not just a
simple baying sound like that of a wolf at the moon. It managed to convey
distress, loneliness, abandonment and even pain in one single, long,
emanation. Its effect was to set off prickles on the skin and make hairs
rise on the backs of necks. The normal reaction to such a sound was to
help, but no one could.
At bases in the Antarctic, scientists thought that something catastrophic was happening to the
ice beneath them. They expected a great fissure to open beneath their
huts. Ice makes strange sounds as it moves and breaks. Researchers
decided that a great mass of air trapped within the solid ice had escaped,
causing the dreadful noise. But it came again and again and the ice remained
intact.
All the while dogs and other
animals paid no attention to it, only the human one.
Heads of state called one another,
each having to stop as the wail made it difficult to hear. The sound was
simultaneous all over the world, however, that made it very strange. As the President of Russia spoke with his American counterpart they became aware that each of them was hearing the howl
at exactly the same time even though they were separated by thousands of
kilometres. While the satellite connection caused a slight delay when the
howl was heard on it, it was still clear the two men were experiencing the
sound at the same time. Both correlated their timepieces and noted the
time of the howl in their separate countries.
Other leaders did the same during
their calls. It was concluded that the only way this could be possible
was if the sound came from within the earth. Over the next few days authorities around the
globe enlisted experts of all kinds to trace the source of the sound and scientists in various fields used their own initiative and began their own investigations.
Acoustic engineers, audio experts
and every kind of technician set up equipment. Governments enlisted
geologists, geophysicists, oceanographers, physicists, climatologists,
seismologists and numerous other experts. NASA began its own
inquiry. Astronomers even joined the effort but it was known sound could
not travel through space.
People all over the world began to
believe aliens were sending the signal as a kind of weapon to drive humans
mad. Experts used the media to assure them of the following facts:
One:
if aliens exist it is a ridiculous way to make contact and why would they want
to drive the population of the planet mad rather than just terminate them.
Two:
if aliens existed they would be technologically clever enough to use a variety
of signals if they wished to communicate.
Three:
sound could not travel through space.
Some people decided the sun must be going to explode and the end was nigh.
Scientists using the media, who had never had such a field day on any news item
ever before, stated categorically that the sun was always incredibly noisy,
something akin to the sound of billions of megaton bombs going off at the same
time, and we couldn't survive its sound if we were able to hear it but the
sound could not travel through space. No, the howl did not come from the
sun which could give no auditory warning if it was going to explode.
Sound could not travel through a vacuum they reiterated over and over again.
In the meantime tests on the sound continued. Every kind of acoustic,
wavelength, frequency, resonance and even sonar measuring device was enlisted
but after ten days of intensive investigation no one was able to ascertain what
made the sound or to discover its point of origin. It defied scientific inquiry
even though it was in the range of human hearing and therefore, should have
been in the range of canine hearing but dogs stubbornly refused to react to it.
The reaction of people throughout the world would be the subject of study for
decades to follow.
Predictably many turned to religion as they decided the sound was a portent of
the end of the world. Churches, temples and mosques filled to
capacity. The bible's chapter 'Revelations' was scoured for references to
signs of the apocalypse however, the only reference in it to sound was the
blast of angels' trumpets. The howl was definitely not that although some
argued that it could be.
Atheists and agnostics went to a church or chose spiritual groups so they might
at least feel a sense of community in the time remaining to them.
Doctors and psychologists were deluged with patients and pharmacies ran out of
sedatives and tranquillisers. Hospital beds filled to capacity and, after
two and a half weeks of the interminable howling, so did morgues. Suicides
reached forty times the normal rate and authorities in every country set up
help lines, enlisted every welfare agency and the media to offer as much
support as possible.
Unfortunately the helpers were stressed beyond endurance and having difficulty
coping themselves. Car accidents rose to extraordinary levels until
authorities ordered everyone off the road unless driving was their job, they
made essential deliveries or had an emergency they had to attend. Only
public transport, ambulances, police vehicles, garbage trucks and sanitary
vehicles were allowed on the road.
Work place accidents rose especially on building sites, in factories and refineries.
States of Emergency were declared worldwide. Crime went through the roof
and curfews were imposed. Aggressive behaviour caused bashings, muggings
and road rage. The latter was another reason private transport, except
for essential purposes, was banned.
Many went anywhere there was noise in the hope of blunting the effect of the
howl as it intruded into everyday sounds. Some even held 'howl' parties
but these wore thin very early on.
Walking along the pavements it could be seen that people had developed the
hollow eyed look of sleeplessness and despair. The stock market plummeted
and trade was halted indefinitely.
The howl had engendered a feeling of total helplessness. The human race
had evolved as the only animal capable of initiating the means to solve
problems. For the first time in history it had reached an impasse.
Philosophers and thinkers noted the impact this had.
It was as if the universe had measured the progress of the human race and sent
a test to take it to the next evolutionary level. This may have been
nonsense but, at the same time, those who weren't driven insane, learned to tolerate
the sound and accept it as a fact of life.
Humans were thrown back to the state they had known in primitive times when the
sun, moon and stars were objects of mystery and veneration. Then the
rhythms of nature and the planets were incomprehensible, as was how night
followed day. It had taken millennia for mankind to understand these
things but now, with all the instruments of science at its disposal, ones it
had invented, it couldn't detect or explain the source of a simple, repetitive
sound.
Theorists had no explanation. No one did. All that could be done
was to endure it and try to consider it to be a new rhythm nature had placed
into the mix. Those who could manage to do this would survive, the
others would not.
Those who could tolerate the sound fought to help maintain the sanity of their
partner who could not and keep them on a suicide watch.
Many feared going to work and leaving loved ones to their own devices.
Absenteeism added to the loss of productivity and was one of the reasons the
world's economy went into meltdown. After two and a half weeks, things
were looking very grim.
Luke was one of many forced to work at home on his computer to keep watch over
Annie who was heavily sedated and, he feared, suicidal. She was a ghost
of her former self and sat in his work room, hollow eyed as he worked on-line.
The scene was repeated worldwide although the genders of those who coped
and those who didn't varied.
On a Thursday three weeks into 'the howling' as it had come to be known, Luke was in the middle
of composing a presentation when Annie suddenly spoke.
"Luke?"
"Mm, want a cup of tea darling?" he replied, distracted by his work.
"Luke," she said more sharply, forcing him to look at her.
He noticed that for the first time in two weeks her eyes had some life in them.
"What?" he asked.
"It's stopped."
For a moment he didn't know what she meant.
"What has?"
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
"It has, the howl."
He hadn't noticed but thought it was more likely that she had tuned it out as
he had. But he listened for a while just to make her realise he was
taking her seriously.
That's when he heard it. Nothing.
He stood up and went to the front door and, still hearing nothing, went
outside, repeating his actions of the first night although it was
now daytime. Other neighbours began coming out of their homes.
All over the world everyone stopped what they were doing and listened. It
was probably the greatest few moments of peace the world had ever
experienced. Machines stopped, traffic stopped, the world stopped and
held its collective breath.
After fourteen minutes and three howls down no one dared to celebrate.
Many were waiting for something to follow. If it had been a portent of
disaster what was to come?
Nothing did. After the sun rose the next morning, after a good nights sleep was had all over the planet, relief began
to seep into the consciousness. Luke and Annie, who was still shaking off
the effects of sedation, went out into the fresh morning air. Luke stood
behind her and put his arms around her. They breathed deeply.
"If it happens again, you must learn to cope with it," he whispered
in her ear. "I couldn't bear to lose you."
"You were able to switch it off," she replied. "I just
didn't seem to be able to. What do you think it was?"
He had wondered about that all the time since the howl began. He couldn't
even manage to guess but he did have a thought.
"Perhaps it was the accumulated pain of mankind and all living creatures that
had built up over millennia being vented," he said.
"What an amazing thought," she murmured. "It sounded like
that didn't it? Like pain, distress and sorrow, all combined."
"Yes," he replied. "Perhaps the earth has a soul.
Perhaps it finally needed to weep before it could continue to collect our
combined horrors and sorrows. As if its heart was too full to go on
without purging itself."
"I wonder if life will ever be the same?" said Annie.
The world's people had shared a common experience. Uncertainty would
forever replace the confidence it had taken the human race centuries to
develop, convinced of its ability to control its environment and its
destiny. Now there existed a question mark, a problem without a solution.
It had left as quickly as it had arrived but its mark would leave its imprint
on the human race forever, a reminder that mankind wasn't god after all, and
that there remained the inexplicable.
THE END.
This story is the sole
property of the author Kim Dessaix.
Requests for reprint
should be addressed to kdessaix52@gmail.com
